


It's Who We Are

by Lazy Cat Corner (Gummyyummy156)



Category: Crimson Peak (2015)
Genre: Gen, cryptic ghost stuff, idk what else to tag this as, lucille goes through the five stages of grief and learns nothing, lucille has a niece and doesnt know what to think about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 15:25:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18672391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gummyyummy156/pseuds/Lazy%20Cat%20Corner
Summary: Lucille's intuition has never failed her before and it's unlikely it will fail her now. Condemned as a spirit, she's granted the chance to step outside of her prison and watch Edith move on and leave the past behind. Everyone would say Edith's life is unremarkable, but Lucille knows better.





	It's Who We Are

**Author's Note:**

> Guess I'm not over Crimson Peak and now here I am writing fanfic to cope. LMAO!

Unlike some spirits, Lucille is only bound to one place, but occasionally she’s invited to visit outside the walls with her brother. 

It took some time for her to figure it out, but it’s clear that Thomas isn’t just bound to an object, but  _ a person _ . Two to be precise. Edith and, to everyone’s surprise, his daughter. 

Thomas didn’t tell Lucille about her for the longest time. He was afraid she would try to hurt or frighten her. He wasn’t wrong to assume so and Lucille would be lying if she said she hasn’t thought about it. 

Nevertheless, Thomas has more compassion than he can handle and even he pities his sister’s indefinite confinement to the place they loathe so much. It wasn’t long before he came back around, like he always does, and kept her company from time to time.

Every once in awhile, Thomas allows her to pass through and visit her niece on the condition that she keeps a reasonable distance from the family. One step closer and she is hurled back to the dusty chair of her piano. 

Lucille even tested him a few times to see if he was true to his word. Without fail, he would send her back and leave her to sit in silence. He would come back eventually and offer her another chance, but being tossed away like a piece of rubbish eventually gets tiring and Lucille soon agreed to follow his rules. 

The first few years of watching Edith and her daughter were excruciating. She doesn’t know how her brother can do it without growing bored or irritated and yet his eyes never leave their sight. A proud smile on his face every time. As if every mundane thing they’ve said or done is new to him. 

But after some time, she became more intrigued about the little girl. It started sometime when she was old enough to speak and showed the kind of young woman she could grow up to be. 

Lucille believed the child would grow up to be another copy of her mother. Which she is, to some extent. She is meddlesome, foolishly kind and seemingly unafraid of anything. She’s undoubtedly more attached to books than her own mother is and her mind wanders off just as often, as well. But there are other things about her that even Edith cannot ignore. 

The warm brown curls, for one thing, that perfectly frame her face. A knowing quirk of a smile she occasionally lets slip like she’s hiding a secret, but most importantly, her strong will. 

It’s unavoidable and all Sharpe women have it. While the men are timid, afraid and tend to hide behind their work, the women are fierce and have nothing keeping them from getting what they want.

Lucille believes that trait is what kept the family bloodline running strong for so long. It’s probably what’s saving the bloodline right now. 

She should be angry right now as she watches the little girl play in the garden with her mother. She should hate Edith for unwittingly tainting the name. She should hate her for getting everything she wanted and leaving Lucille and Thomas to rot in the dark. But all Lucille can think of is curiosity. 

She thinks about what it would be like if she lived another life. Another time where she didn’t have to rush everything and could play with Edith a bit longer because if she’s being honest, Edith was the most excitement she’s had in the longest time. Maybe she would have listened to her brother’s pleas. She could have waited, poisoned Edith at a later time and maybe Lucille would have left the cursed home behind and forgotten. 

It would have ended happier and everyone would have what they wanted. Thomas would get his extra time with Edith and realize he’s wasting his time, Edith could die stupidly in love and Lucille...Well, she would walk away with the best outcome. The child she so desperately wanted from Thomas that his last wife so callously took from her. 

She disregards that thought immediately and lets out a frustrated sigh when she realizes that girl would grow up to be too much like Edith to tolerate her. Knowing that even in death, Edith would probably not let it go and her fate would just end the same way. Anyway, Lucille has never been the maternal type.  

A twinge of irritation crosses Lucille when she hears the joyful squeal escape the little girl. Edith places a kiss on her daughter’s head and returns back to her work on the patio leaving her daughter to play by herself. Lucille watches the girl pick up a book and sit down to read out loud to her toy she dropped earlier. 

She feels her brother’s firm grip on her shoulder. His cryptic way of telling her that her time is up and she has to leave. 

Lucille rolls her eyes. Now that he’s dead, he believes he can order her around with little fear. Honestly, he hardly speaks to her anymore and his constant brooding is bothersome. She wonders how much longer before he gets over it. Lucille prepares to leave, gives one last look to her niece and freezes. 

The little girl with her book still clutched in her small hands stopped reading and her blue eyes are glaring sharply at her. Lucille purses her lips in thought and knows she was very careful that nobody would see them. One of the conditions of leaving the house is she has to to remain unnoticed at all times.

She chooses to ignore it and assumes the child’s head is as empty as her mother’s. Maybe she just so happens to be spacing out in her direction. Probably dreaming up another nonsense fantasy and tuning out the rest of the world. Just then, something curious happens.

The little girl’s eyes brighten like she’s seeing a sunrise for the first time and a faint laugh escapes her lips before she returns to her toy as if nothing‘s wrong. 

Thomas, unaware of what just happened gives one last warning glare for her to leave before he forces her. Lucille pats his shoulder and makes her way back. Oblivious as always. He never could see what’s in front of him. Or perhaps he chooses to ignore it?

Lucille is back at her usual spot by the piano and returns to her endless tune on the keys. Her pacing slows down when her mind drifts back to the little girl. She can’t help herself but smile when she remembers the way her niece looked at her. 

The longer she thinks about it, the more sure of herself she is.

She can tell. She knows Thomas believes his daughter will become as bright and beautiful of a butterfly as her mother is, but Lucille knows better. That moment alone confirmed her suspicions. It can’t be helped after all, and it’s something in the family blood. Something that no amount of ignorance can change. It becomes all too clear once you hear it. The distinct and faint hum of wings beating in the air that sound like a moth’s. 


End file.
